'Israel, Poland partners is Holocaust remembrance'

The following is a joint statement issued by the governments of Israel and Poland.

Over the last thirty years, the contacts between our countries and societies have been based on a well-grounded trust and understanding. Israel and Poland are devoted, long-term friends and partners, cooperating closely with each other in the international arena, but also as regards the memory and education of the Holocaust.

This cooperation has been permeated by a spirit of mutual respect, mutual respect for identity and historical sensitivity, including the most tragic periods of our history.

Following my conversation with Prime Minister Morawiecki, Israel welcomes the decision taken by the Polish government to establish the official Polish group dedicated to the dialogue with its Israeli partners on historical issues relating to the Holocaust.

It’s obvious that the Holocaust was an unprecedented crime, committed by Nazi Germany against the Jewish nation, including all Poles of Jewish origin.

Poland has always expressed the highest understanding of the significance of the Holocaust as the most tragic part of the Jewish national experience.

We believe that there is a common responsibility to conduct free research, to promote understanding and to preserve the memory of the history of the Holocaust.

We have always agreed that the term "Polish concentration/death camps" is blatantly erroneous and diminishes the responsibility of Germany for establishing those camps.

The wartime Polish government-in-exile attempted to stop this Nazi activity by trying to raise awareness among the Western allies of the systematic murder of the Polish Jews.

We acknowledge and condemn every single case of cruelty against Jews perpetrated by Poles during World War II.

We are honored to remember heroic acts of numerous Poles, especially the Righteous Among the Nations, who risked their lives to save Jewish people.

We reject the actions aimed at blaming Poland or the Polish nation as a whole for the atrocities committed by the Nazis and their collaborators of different nations.

Unfortunately, the sad fact is that some people – regardless of their origin, religion or worldview – revealed their darkest side at that time.

We acknowledge the fact that structures of the Polish underground state supervised by the Polish government-in-exile created a mechanism of systematic help and support to Jewish people, and its courts sentenced Poles for collaborating with the German occupation authorities, including for denouncing Jews.

We support free and open historical expression and research on all aspects of the Holocaust so that it can be conducted without any fear of legal obstacles, including but not limited to students, teachers, researchers, journalists and of course, the survivors and their families, who will not be subjected to any legal charges for exercising the right to free speech and academic freedom with reference to the Holocaust.

No law can and no law will change that.

Both governments vehemently condemn all forms of anti-Semitism and express their commitment to oppose any of its manifestations.

Both governments also express their rejection of anti-Polonism and other negative national stereotypes.

The governments of Poland and Israel call for a return to civil and respectful dialogue in the public discourse.